Absolute Virtue
|Special Abilities = *'(2 Hour) All of them:' (Pre-ToAU) Can be used multiple times; two-hour abilities are not in a set rotation and can be used randomly. **Mighty Strikes, Hundred Fists, Blood Weapon - Will not cast or use a WS. **Manafont - Casts Meteor or Comet every 8 to 10 seconds; will not use a WS. **Chainspell - Casts any of Aeroga IV, Tornado II, Aero V approximately 12-13 times. Will not cast Meteor or Comet at <79% HP. **Invincible, Perfect Dodge - Will continue to cast and use WSes **Soul Voice - Will use Maiden's Virelai every 10 seconds. Will not use Aero/Tornado spells or WSes. **Mijin Gakure - AoE damage, if Wynavs are present, they will use Mijin Gakure too. **Eagle Eye Shot - Blinkable. **Benediction - Recovers all HP. **Meikyo Shisui - Will use TP moves back-to-back; will not cast spells. **Call Wyvern - Summons 3 Aern's Wynav to assist, 6 if in bracelets mode **''If Wynavs are present:'' ***Familiar - Wynav Attack Boost and Max HP Boost to 3000 ***Astral Flow - Wynavs instantly gain TP and immediately use a breath attack *'Draw In' - Uses if anyone attempts to drag it too far from its spawn area; It is possible to slowly drag AV out of his spawn area, but it is a very slow process requiring the tank to basically walk backwards while locked on *'Impact Stream' - 10' AOE damage, Stun and Defense Down , wipes Shadow Images *'Wing Thrust' - Single target damage, Slow , absorbed by 4 Shadow Images; The Slow does not overwrite Haste, but is extremely potent *'Auroral Wind' - Cone Attack Wind damage and Silence (approx. 800+ dmg) *'Medusa Javelin' - Single target damage and Petrification , absorbed by 1 Shadow Image (approx. 2000+ dmg) *'Crystaline Cocoon' - Shell and Protect *'Depuration' - Full Erase |Passive Traits = *500 HP/Tic Regen. **Reduced by 50% by using Magical attacks that correspond to the current day **Reduced again by 50% by killing many of the Jailer of Love's pets. *89 INT *Magic Defense Bonus + 100 *Magic Attack Bonus + 132 before bracelets are out *Enhanced movement speed. (+150%) *If deaggroed, loses all enfeebles on it. *At 59%, gains access to "bracelets mode", similar to other Aerns. **Enhances all of AV's stats. |Physical Qualities = *Uses a Polearm **Attacks deal 400-500+ damage *Builds a strong (90%) resistance to Souleater after only a few attacks |Magical Qualities = *Casts Elemental Magic **Spells include Aero V, Aeroga IV and Tornado II **Also has instant-cast Meteor and Comet when Manafont and/or Chainspell are active *Resists Stun and Gravity, however it is susceptible to Shadowbind. |Further Notes = :*Can be very difficult to defeat due to its ability to use Benediction multiple times and the "Rage" mode it enters below 60% when it puts on its bracelets. :*Its 2-hour abilities can be locked by performing a specific 2-hour to lock AV's use of 2 hours. ::*''Example'' - AV uses Chainspell. A Red Mage in the alliance that is on AV's hate list and within 20' of AV would have to use their own Chainspell within 2-3 seconds in order to successfully lock AV's chainspell. :::*Dragoons must use Call Wyvern, not Spirit Surge. ::*The level of the character is irrelevant. Level 1 characters can lock 2-hours. ::*If Call Wyvern is locked, AV will in turn be unable to use Familiar or Astral Flow since these require pets to be present. ::*Once a 2-hour is locked, it stays locked even through deaggro. ::*AV will never use the same 2-hour back-to-back. ::*Beginning at bracelets mode, AV will use the following two-hour combos: :::*Call Wyvern → Familiar → Astral Flow :::*Invincible → Benediction → Mijin Gakure :::*Meikyo Shisui → Eagle Eye Shot x 3 :::*Chainspell → Soul Voice :*Once thought nigh-invincible, its difficulty has lowered thanks to level cap increases and use of Perfect Defense. }} See Also *See the Discussion page to discuss recent developments, rumors and possible strategies for defeating Absolute Virtue, including the video released by Square-Enix. *See Absolute Virtue/Developer Strategy for a transcription of the developer fight. Dialogue Dialogue when it appears Absolute Virtue: "At lassst the time has come... The ssscattered fragments of my thoughtsss once again mine. Long forgotten memoriesss filling me once more... However... these memories generate sssuffering... These thoughtsss... bring remorssse... Tell me... for what sssearcheth thou, to travel this far? Show me... by what principlesss art thou driven?" Dialogue when defeated Absolute Virtue: "By thy principlesss... I have been freed from the chainsss placed upon me from time immemorial. Thy path... extends to the far reaches of time and ssspace... But sssomeday... thou shalt reach... thy destin..." Notes The dialogue does say freed by the chains, not freed from the chains. *Nope. It's "freed from". Can confirm. The typo must've been fixed at some point. Based on Absolute Virtue's manner of speaking, the voice heard at the "???"s for the 4 Al'Taieu Jailers is that of Absolute Virtue. This is apparent through the triple-s spoken when many words with the letter s are uttered as well as the use of "thou". Historical Background Absolute Virtue is a concept found in ancient Greek philosophy and Christianity. To the Greeks, it was a principle which exists beyond material forms, an Idea located in the world of Ideas (as envisioned by Plato). Absolute Virtue was constant across different types of people, but relative virtue, how that virtue is displayed in that social class or that gender varies depending on the status or gender of the person. Socrates said it was possible for humans to attain absolute virtue and thus understand Truth. To Medieval Christianity, Absolute Virtue was defined as God. God was absolute virtue. Accordingly, to the Greeks, Absolute Virtue would contain the virtues of Wisdom (Prudence), Courage (Fortitude), Temperance, and Justice. To the medieval Christians, Absolute Virtue would contain the four Greek cardinal virtues of Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice, as well as the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity/Love. Ancient and medieval theologians called the four Greek virtues "natural" or "pagan" virtues because they reasoned that these four virtues were able to be known and practiced by all mankind simply by the light of God's general revelation. The three "theological" virtues, on the other hand, are so called because they can only be known and practiced by finding their proper object in the light of God's special revelation: i.e., the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 13:13). Both the ancient Greeks and medieval Christians adhered to a concept called the "unity of the virtues." In Greek philosophy it can be found in Plato and Aristotle. It is the idea that the four virtues are harmonic, and that to perfect one virtue one must perfect them all. In medieval Christianity, this remains the case, but here the theological virtues perfect the natural virtues by supplying them with their proper object in the light of special revelation. In heaven, love is the only virtue, as perfect love contains all the virtues. This is probably the reason that Absolute Virtue spawns upon the death of the Jailer of Love. While the 7 Jailers drop weapons and torques bearing the name of their virtue, Absolute Virtue only drops items bearing the name of seven sins. This would lead to the implication that Absolute Virtue may not be as virtuous as its name implies. However, it may also drop these sins because upon defeating Absolute Virtue you theoretically destroy all the virtues, leaving the only thing left to gain to be sins. It is also possible that the sins are the "chains" placed on Absolute Virtue. Another theory may be that the sins are Absolute Virtue's thoughts ("ssscattered fragments of my thoughtsss once again mine"). Though this would seem contradictory based on what the principle of Absolute Virtue itself stands for, but the dialogue states, "...these memories generate sssuffering... These thoughtsss... bring remorssse..." indicating that Absolute Virtue's thoughts may have become corrupt and warped, like the landscape of Al'Taieu; why they are corrupt and now perverse is unclear at the moment. When defeated, Absolute Virtue leaves behind seven sins, possibly its now-tainted memories. Another idea which supports the theological origins of the virtues is that each step along the path is a station where that element of self mastery is tested. The jailers of the virtues could then be seen as doppelgangers of the player's soul which must be bested in order to progress along the path to self mastery. As each station is passed and that virtue mastered (as represented by the appropriately named drop items) that virtue is "released" within and the player approaches one step closer to a complete mastery of self. Once each virtue is mastered, culminating in the ultimate virtue of love, one can then proceed to demonstrate their own ultimate self mastery, that of Absolute Virtue. If this level of perfection is indeed obtained, it is only done so through the shedding of one's sins, which must first be remembered/recognized (as noted in the game text) and then shed or forsaken (as represented in the drops). This ultimate self-mastery could be compared to the "chains" which then free the player, a paradox with significant application in many religious traditions throughout the world. Category:Bestiary category:Aern Category:Notorious Monsters Category:High Notorious Monsters Category:Sea Notorious Monsters